Speed boat



Dec.-22, 1931.

C: A. VOLF, JR

SPEED BOAT 2 Sheets-Sheet Filed June 27, 1928 llllllrl llfllllll I N VEN TOR,

4 W71? 92. v mm- A TTORNEY.

A Dec. 22,.1931. c: A. voLF, JR

SPEED BOAT Filed June 27, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet '2 Y INVENTOR. czum 4. W1.

\ ATTORNEY.

CHRISTIAN A. VOILE, JR,

Patented Dec. 22, 1931 PATENT OFFICE SPEED BOAT This invention is a speed boat, which is pneumatically propelled, by ejecting air rearwardly.

In many types of pneumatically propelled boats, where air or other gases are projected rearwardly, the projected fluids are ejected below the water level. In the present invention, the air streams or fluid streams are pro-- jected into the forward ends of longitudinal channels on the outside of the boat, and then projected from the rear of the boat just above the surface of the water. The final projection at the rear is a projection of the air stream into air rather than into water and is one of the very important characteristics of this invention.

While air or other gases may be used, the

practical .thing to use is air;'it should be understood that the term air as used in this specification includes other appropriate fluids, as may prove suitable.

r The hull of the speed boat is provided with i a plurality of grooves on the exterior thereof which extend substantially longitudinally of the boat and open at the stern, above the water line. The invention is primarily applicable to speed boats, which have only a slight draft. y

In the prior art, where the air is ejected below the water line, the water imposes a very considerable resistance which creates so much back pressure that a satisfactory air flow along the channels is not attained. Furthermore, if a large quantity of air is ejected below the water level at the stern, the sus taining effect of the water is. largely lost, because a mixture of air andwater naturally has not the sustaining power of water alone, the result of which is that the stern of the boat will drop too far into the water, and put the bow too far out of the water.v

Speed boats tend to ride largely on the stern anyway, and if they are to preserve proper equilibrium and smooth riding, they must ride on solid water at the stern, and not on air bubbles. With the present invention, the bow of the boat does not project out of the water as with many speed boats.

Application filed June 2?, 1928. serial No. 288,576.

According to this invention, therefore, the grooves, which are of inverted U-shape, are of such a depth that the air projected rear: wardly from the. grooves is projected substantially at the water level, the projected air passing smoothly out into air, not into water, so that the boat still rides on water.

The grooves are so placed with respect to the water line that the upper third of a groove is filled with air, while the lower two thirds is filled with-water.

Since the air leaving the grooves is discharged into air, it can and does travel at high speed. It travels along the grooves at high speed, and while so doing passes along the surface of the water that is within the the reactive force of this drag of course propelling the boat forwardly.

The air may be supplied to the grooves from the forward ends thereof by any suitable form of blower, centrifugal or othertype' of pump, driven by any suitable prime mover. Suitable intake pipes are provided for supplying airto the blower or blowers and valve means are provided at ap ropriate points for controlling the amount of air supplied to the several grooves, for controlling the air flow or 3300mm, NEW YORK, assrenon 'ro MURRAY '1'. muse,v or mew YORK ooUN'rY, NEW YORK as may be desired, and for steering the boat.

An importantfeature of the invention'is that the propelling force is not applied largely at the stern, as is the case with most boats, but is applied along the entire length of the boat, that is to say, the propelling forces are entirely within the body of the boat, between bowand stern, and not beyond the stern, as is the case with a screw propeller.

Air intake funnels are provided, so placed as to utilize the reactive forces of the air drawn into the funnels. The funnels preferably face the bow, and are preferably covered with deflectors, which may be coneshaped, for deflecting water and spray. The powerful suction on the intake pipes tends pull due to the placement of the intake pipes is one of the important features of the invention.

These and further details will be more particularly' described in the accompanying drawings illustrating the present preferred way for carrying out the invention.

In these drawings, Figure 1 is a bottom plan view of the boat; Figure 2 is a top plan view, Figure 3 is a side elevation; Figure 4 is a section amidships; Figure 5 is a rear view; Figure 6 is a view showing the travel of the air through the boat, and

Figure 7 is a detail of one of the grooves. Referring now to the drawings in which similar reference characters indicate similar parts, the speed boat has a hull 5 provided with a substantially flat bottom 6, bow 7 and stern 8. The bottom of the hull on the outside is provided with a plurality of long'itudinally extending grooves, here shown as four in number, the outer pair of grooves being shown at 9 and the inner pair of grooves at 10. Any desired number of grooves could, of course, be used. The outer grooves 9 may extend from a point. near the bow to. the stern, while the inner pair of grooves extends from amidships to the stern. The grooves'9 converge somewhat as shown in Figure 1, to

conform with the curvature of the boat atv the bow. The grooves are of such depth with into the grooves about two thirds of the height of 'the'grooves, as shown in Figure 7 when the upper third of each groove is filled g with air. As shown in Figure 4, the gen eral water level of the boat is the same on the outside of the grooves as inside of the grooves, and as mentioned above, is about two-thirds of the distance from the bottom of the grooves to the top.

From this it will be apparent that air passing along the grooves is finally projected rearwardly substantially at the water level, the air leaving the grooves being projected, not into water, but into air, so that it escapes freely.

Air under pressure is supplied to the forward ends'of the grooves by suitable blower .means, which are illustrated more or less diagrammatically. Such blower means could take many forms, the form-here shown-comprising a pair of centrifugal blowers 11 mounted on a common shaft 12, the blowers being connected by pipes 13 tothe grooves 9.

The blowers '11 may be driven from any suitable type of power .plant, such as the engine*15, which, through ashaft 16 and transmission mechanism 17 and 18 drives the shaft 12 and thus drives the blowers.

Air is supplied to the inner pair of grooves 10 by a pair of blowers 20 mounted on a common shaft 2l which is in turn driven by the engine 15, shaft 16 and transmission mecha nism 22 and 23. Air from the blowers 20 is led to the grooves 10 through pipes 24.

The air intake means for the several blowers will now be described. Air is supplied to the forward blowers 11 from an intake pipe having an intake mouth 26 facing to--' ward the bow. Air entering this intake,

mouth passes downwardly through the vertical part 27 of the pipe and then passes forwardly through the pipe 28 into the blower.

A spray deflecting shield 29, conical in shape, is placed in front of the intake mouth 26.

The amount of air supplied to the grooves 9 is controlled by valves 28a in the intake pipes 28. The parts just described are duplicated for each of the blowers 11.

Air is supplied to the blowers 20 amidships by a pipe having an intake mouth 30 facing toward the how, the air entering this pipe passing downwardly into the part 31 and then forwardly through a pipe 32 to the blower.

' A spray deflecting shield 33 conical in shape is placed in front of the intake mouth 30.

wall of the boat. This cut-out portion is normally closed by a swingable block 36, provided with a curved portion 37. In normal running of the boat, the block 36 is,- as shown in full lines in Figure 1, flush with the side of the boat. It is mounted on a pivot rod 38, vertically disposed, so that it may be swung outwardly as shown in d'ottedlinesin Figure 1 and when it is thus swung outwardly, its vertical wall 37 cooperates with the cutout portion'35 to form a forwardly opening groove out of which air is blown from a pipe 39 connected to a blower 40, driven by a.

motor 41, or which may be connected up by means of any suitable mechanical. means to.

just described are duplicated on theother adually curves outwardly toward the side side of the boat. if it is desired to back' ated the boat would back in a straight line.

In operation, the main blowers 11 and 20 supply airto the four main grooves, the air being first projected into the forward ends of the grooves, and then passes at high speed along these grooves and is then finally projected at high speed at the stern, above the water level.

The surface of the water being about twothirds up into the grooves, there is necessarily friction between the high speed air in the grooves and the surface of the water, the air dragging the water toward the stern, the reactive force of which of course tends to propel the boat forwardly.

The air from the grooves being discharged above the Water level, into air, there is no bubbling at the stern or undue resistance that would be present if the air was ejected below the water level. A

While the grooves 9 extend for substantially the length of the hull, it should be understood that the boat could be propelled by grooves of lesser length, as for example, by

the grooves 10 alone.

Another important feature is that the propulsion is entirely within the body of the boat, rather than largely at the stern as is the case with the ordinary screw propeller. The grooves extend for substantially the length of the boat and exert a propelling force substantially the entire length of the boat.

The placement of the air intake means servesalso to aid in propelling the boat. The powerful suction exerted by the blowers on the forwardly opening intake mouths serves to draw the boat forwardly, and so a propelling effect from this source is thereby attained.

This invention is capable of application to the hulls of flying boats and seaplanes which are essentially hlghspeed craft.

While I have illustrated my invention in some detail it should be understood that this disclosure is purely illustrative .and that it ma be carried out in other ways, as falling wit in the scope of the following claims.

I claim as my. invention:

1. In an air propelled boat, the combination of a hull provided with spaced grooves extending substantially longitudinally thereof, the grooves opening downwardly for substantially their entire length, and power operated blowing means for supplying air to the forward ends of the longitudinal grooves. the grooves opening at'the rear of the hull, above the water line,

whereby the air in the grooves travels at high speed while in the grooves and is discharged at high speed directly into air jtlst above thevsurface of the water at the stern, the boat when moving riding on the portions of the hull between the grooves, and

being propelled solely by the ejection of air 'bottom and outside thereof, means for supf plying air under pressure to the forward ends of said grooves, the grooves opening at the stern, above the water line, whereby the air travels at high speed along the I grooves and imposes a frictional drag onthe surface of the water inthe grooves, the air being discharged at high speed directly into air at the stern of the boat, above the water. line, the boat when moving riding on the solid portions of the hull between the grooves and being propelled solely by the rearward ejection of air. 1 i

3. In a high speedboat th'e' combination with a hull provided with grooves extending substantially longitudinally thereof, the grooves being spaced apart with solid portions of the hull of substantial Width be: tween the rooves, on'the bottom and outside thereo means for supplying air .under pressure to the forward ends of said grooves, valved means for controlling the air sup plied to the several rooves, the grooves opening at the stern, bove the water line, whereby the air travels at high speed along the grooves and imposes a frictional drag on. the surface of the water in the grooves, the air during its travel along the grooves heing above the water level and being d1scharged at high speed directly into air at the stern of the boat, above the water line, the boat when moving riding on the solid portions of the hull between the grooves and being propelled solely by the rearward e ection of air.

'4. In an air propelled boat, the combination of a hull provided with grooves extending substantially longitudinally thereof.

ing air to the forward ends of the longi tudinal grooves, the grooves opening at the rear of the hull, above the water line, whereby the .air in the grooves. travels at high speed while in'the grooves and is discharged athigh speed directly into air just above the surface of the water at the stern, and an airintake pipe for the blowing means extending fora substantial distance toward p the stern from the blower and then bent up wardly and forwardly to provide an intake mouth opening toward the bow.

5. In an air propellejd boat,-the combina-; tion of a hull provided with grooves ex 10 while in the grooves and is discharged directly into the air just above the surface.

of the water at the stern, an air intake pipe for the blowing means, extending for a substantial distance toward the stern from the blower and then bent upwardly and forwardly to provide an intake mouth opening toward the bow, and a spray deflecting shield in front of said intake mouth. a

6. In an air propelled boat, the combination of a hull provided with grooves on the outside thereof extending substantially longitudinally thereof and opening at the rear of the boat above the water line, the grooves extending upwardly intothe hull so that when the boat is at rest in the water the-upper parts of the grooves are above the water line, blowing means in the bow for supplying air to certain of said grooves, and blowing means amidships for supplying air to other grooves, the air from the several grooves being discharged at the stern of the boat, above the water line.

7. In an air propelled boat, the combination. of a hull provided with grooves on the outside thereof extending substantially longitudinally thereof and opening at the rear ofthe boat above the water line, blowing means in the bow for supplying air to certain of said grooves, blowing means amidships for supplying air to othergrooves, the

air from the several grooves being dis charged at high speed directly into air at I v the stern of the boat, above the waterline, and an air intake pipe for one of said blowing means extending rearwardly therefrom and provided with a forwardly facing intake mouth. 4

' 8. In an air propelled boat, the combination of'a hull provided with grooves on the outside thereof extending substantially longitudinally thereof and opening at the rear of the boat above the water line, the grooves being built into the hull so that when the boat is in the water, the upper part of-the V grooves is above the water line, blowing means in the bow for supplying air to certain of said grooves, blowing means amidships for supplying air to other grooves, the air' from the several grooves being discharged at the sternof the boat, abovethe water line, an air intake pipe for one of said blowing means extending rearwardly therer 6! from and provided with a forwardly facing outside thereof extending substantially longitudinally thereof and opening at the rear of the boat above the water line, the grooves being built into the hull so that when-the boat is at rest, in the water the upper parts of the grooves are above the water line, blowing'means in the bow for supplying air to certain of said grooves, blowing means amidships for supplying air to other grooves, theair from the several grooves being discharged directly into air at the stern of the boat, above the water line, and air intake pipes for the two blowing means, extending toward the stern from the blower.

10. In an air propelled boat, the combination of a hull provided with grooves on the outside thereof extending substantially longitudinally thereof and opening at the rear of the boat above the water line, the upper parts of the grooves throughout their'entire length being above the water line when the boat is at rest in the water, blowing means in the bow for supplying air to certain of said grooves, blowing means amidships for supplying air to other grooves, the air from the several grooves being discharged at thestern of the boat, directly into air above the water line, and a common power means for operating the blowers.

11. In an air propelled boat, the combination of a hull provided with grooves on the the stern of the boat, above the water line,

and valves for controlling the air supplied to the several grooves. I v

12. In an'air propelled boat, the combination of a hull rovided with ooves extending substantia ly longitudina ly thereof, the upper parts of the grooves, when the boat is at rest in the water, being above the water I line, power operated blowing means for supplymg air to the forward ends of the longitudinal rooves, the grooves opening at the rear of t e hull, above the water line, whereby the air in the grooves travels at high speed while in the grooves and is discharged at high speed directly into air just above the surface of the waterat the stern, and check valves at the forward parts of said grooves 13."In an air propelled boat, the combination of a hull provided with grooves extendoutside thereof extending substantially long1- of a hull ing substantially longitudinally thereof and having exit openings. above the water line, the upper parts of the grooves throughout the lengths of the grooves, being above the water line when the boat isat rest in the water, some of the ooves projecting air 'rearwardly for prope ling the boat forward above the water level, and so that the discharge ends of the grooves are above the water level, and blower means for sup lying of a substantiall air under pressure to said grooves, w ereby the air from the blower means travels along the grooves at high ed, above the water level, and is discharge above the water level at the stern.

15. In a high speed boat, the combination flat-bottomed hull provided on the outslde with longitudinally extending, substantially straight, downwardly facing grooves, spaced apart, so that there are solid portions of hull between the grooves, the boat being of relatively light is filled with water while approximately the upper one third is filled with air, and means fordelivering. air to' the forward ends of the grooves, such air creating a frictional drag onthe water confined in the respective grooves, and being discharged'rea'rwardly .of the hull.

- In testimony whereof I aflix my si ature.

CHRISTIAN A. VOL JR. I

construction so that the upper parts of the v grooves are always above the water line, and

,bl-ower means for supplying air to the forward ends of the grooves, the boat at high speed riding on the solid portions of the hull between the grooves and being propelled solely by the rearwardly discharged air, the

- air travellin at high speed along the. upper portions of the grooves and being discharged at the rear of the boat, above the water lme.

16. In a high speed boat, the combination of a hull provided with substantially straight, longitudinally extending grooves,

the boat being of relatively li ht construction so that the upper parts 0 the longitudi'nal grooves, when the boat is at rest, are

above the water level, and so that the discharge ends of the grooves are above the water level, blower means for supplying air under pressure to said grooves, whereby the air from the blower means travels along the grooves at high speed, above the water level,

vided with longitudinally extending grooves and is discharged above the water level at the stern, and an air intake for the blower means having an intake mouth facing the bow. a a 1 17. In an air propelled boat, a hull prowhich 0 n downwardly for substantially their entlre length, the grooves being spaced apart by intervenmg solid :portions of the 'hull on which the boat rides when in motion,

the ooves being of a depth .such that ap proxlmately the lower two thirds of a groove 

